#0675 · 🐦 birds

Purple Heron

🇳🇱 Purperreiger ·Ardea purpurea

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in the Netherlands

8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The purple heron ( Ardea purpurea ) is a wide ranging species of wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and purpureus , "coloured purple". It breeds in Africa, central and southern Europe, and southern and eastern Asia. The Western Palearctic populations migrate between breeding and wintering habitats whereas the African and tropical-Asian populations are primarily sedentary, except for occasional dispersive movements.

base stats

NL sightings 215iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 28,904iNaturalist observations
weight 51 gadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).